Dr. William Davis said giving up your morning toast and other wheat-based foods is a small price to pay for the good health that follows.
The bestselling author of Wheat Belly and the Wheat Belly Cookbook brings his expertise to the Okanagan this month in a special presentation.
Presented by Nature’s Fare Market and Autopoetic Ideas, Davis will be in Vernon Jan. 23 along with special guest Julie Daniluk, bestelling author of Meals That Heal Inflammation.
“Join Dr. Davis as he discusses how the changed components of modern wheat stimulate appetite, contribute to the expansion of abdominal fat, trigger autoimmune diseases, and contribute to a wide range of other common health conditions,” said life coach Anne Bérubé, founder and producer of Autopoetic Ideas. “This timely and poignant presentation will change your relationship to food in an amazingly positive way.”
But while wheat and wheat-based products are eliminated, delicious foods such as dark chocolate, avocado and cheese can still be enjoyed.
The Wisconsin-based preventive cardiologist is the founder of the TrackYourPlaque.com program who advises a wheat-free diet to his patients.
“This is the very same diet I advise for patients in my office that achieves spectacular reductions in small LDL particles — the number-one cause of heart disease in the U.S. — as well as unraveling diabetic/pre-diabetic tendencies,” he said. “The diet starts with the biggest step: elimination of wheat. But a healthy diet cannot end there, else you and I could eat no wheat but fill our calories with soft drinks and jelly beans.
“So the next step is to limit carbohydrates if your goal is to lose more weight and correct metabolic distortions like high blood sugar and small LDL particles.”
But Davis said eliminating wheat is more than just cutting out bread; he advises eliminating all wheat-based products, oat products and cornstarch-based products.
“For healthy breakfast choices, consider ground flaxseed as a hot cereal (e.g., with soy milk, milk or unsweetened almond milk; blueberries, strawberries). Also consider eggs; raw nuts; cheese; consider having ‘dinner for breakfast,’ meaning transferring salads, cheese, chicken and other ‘dinner’ foods to breakfast.
“Add one teaspoon or more of taste-compatible healthy oil to every meal. For example, mix in one tablespoon flaxseed oil to ground flaxseed hot cereal. Or add two tablespoons olive oil to eggs after scrambling. Adding oils will blunt appetite.
“If you suspect you have a wheat ‘addiction,’ use the first week to add healthy oils to every meal and reduce the amount of wheat by half. In the second week, aim for elimination of wheat while maintaining the oils.
“ Reach for raw nuts first as a convenient snack.”
Bérubé said while critics and the food industry seek to dismiss this as a baseless trend, she said a mounting body of evidence suggests that wheat may be harmful to humans.
“We know that low levels of exposure to any toxin over an extended period can lead to serious health issues, but the idea that wheat (a cornerstone of our diet and culture) could be harmful is more than many of us can bear,” she said. “This is not a diet. This is a movement that we call the Wheat Free Lifestyle; and this event is about finding our way to health and wellness through a process that starts with the experience of wheat free living, but quickly becomes so much more. While often portrayed as mere abstinence from wheat, this process is really about understanding the food we eat and our relationship to it.
“There is no product to buy, no complicated diet to follow — simply eliminate wheat and enjoy the instant benefits to your health and feeling of well-being.”
Wheat Belly Live takes place Jan. 23 at the Vernon Recreation Centre. Doors open at 6 p.m., with product samples, a marketplace and a book store. The presentation begins at 7 p.m. and is followed by questions and answers along with a book signing.
Tickets must be purchased in advance through www.ideasfestival.ca
